Highland to replace elementary, middle school boiler system

District holds ‘spirit week’ to raise funds for robotics teams

By Adam Howard - The Sentinel

With the start of spring sports at Highland High School, the speed of traffic where students travel between corridors, buildings and fields has been of some concern to parents and school officials alike.

Highland Schools Superintendent Bill Dodds informed attendees of the March 16 Highland Board of Education meeting that the district has proactively installed new speedbumps to enforce appropriate driver speed and ensure student safety.

Additionally, the board unanimously approved a measure to replace the aging boiler systems in the elementary and middle school buildings. The old boilers have no efficiency measures and have to be run constantly when needed or completely turned off when not. The new models will be more efficient which will result in energy savings. Fifty percent of the cost of replacement will be covered by Columbia Natural Gas Innovative Energy Solutions’ Rebate Funding Program.

Dodds also reported that The Morrow County Health Department will be extending their community health study in the coming month to potentially include a selection of students from the district in grades 6 through 12. The study, which began in February, is designed to gather information from county residents to better tailor Health Department programs to their needs.

Participation is not required but parents and guardians interested in allowing their student to be part of the study, should be on the lookout for permission slips that required for student participation and program information. Highland representatives have helped review the questions that will be asked to students to ensure they meet community standards for decency and appropriateness.

This week the district held a ‘spirit week’ celebration in which teachers, staff and students combined their efforts to help school robotics teams raise over $400 to help fund their trip to the Robotics World Championship held in Louisville, KY in April.

The teams will have three and a half days of hard work, competition and fun to look forward to during the event. “This is really an international event as teams will be arriving from all over the world to compete,” Highland robitics teacher Tom Gildersleeve explained. “We join the community in wishing the Highland teams the best of luck next month.”